talk in the dark
by The Fluff Queen
Summary: Mike. Rachel. An unseen moment of 'The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle'. For Ash because it's her birthday!


**Summary: **Mike. Rachel. A shared, unseen moment in 'The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle'. Cherry friendship with hints of Puckleberry and a dash of St. Berry whatever (because I can't resist them).

**Disclaimers: **Unfortunately, not mine. If they were, Rachel would hook up with anyone but Finn.

**Spoilers: **To 'Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle' and that awesome post-'Need You Now' fight.

**Author's Note: **A Cherry fic for Ash (gleek06216), my best friend whose birthday is today! It's not Cherry romance, as I'm sure you would've preferred, but it's friendship, so I hope you like your gift, doll.

**talk in the dark**

**M**ike watches with amusement in his eyes as Puck and Rachel walk over to the center of the room, Rachel flat out glaring at Karofsky, Puck following after her like an obedient puppy. Finn, like usual, flat out glares at _Puck_, because God forbid Rachel moves on, especially if it is to her ex's best friend. The footballer sighs in annoyance at the quarterback's douchebag ways and settles down to watch the duet, biting back a grin as Puck shoots Rachel a sideways grin before they start singing.

Mike would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised, pleasantly so, by the beauty of Puck's and Rachel's voices combined together. Puck's deep tones wrap themselves around Rachel's, adding up to her angelic voice instead of clashing with it like it usually happens with Finn's. The Asian notices Coach Beiste singing along and grins, actually grins, because that woman is kickass. The fact that she's in friendly terms with Schue is always a plus, because no way is Beiste ever going to make them choose like Tanaka did last year – coincidentally, during a time where Puck and Rachel were, well, PuckandRachel, aka Puckleberry.

(He wonders what his couple name with Tina is. And what his couple name with Brittany was).

Puck and Rachel stop singing and there is polite applause from their 'guests'. Karofsky, like always, says something about the girl with the Mohawk sounding nice, and Puck barks back a biting retort before grabbing his guitar and rising it over his head charging towards Karofsky so he can break the instrument over the other boy's head.

Then the unthinkable, unimaginable happens.

Rachel tries to charge towards Karofsky, screaming "Let me kick his ass!"

Mike's eyes widen in shock, surprise and wonder at the midget diva as Sam hurries up and grabs her by the waist, lifting her off the floor (God forbid anyone tries to touch Puck's girl inappropriately). Rachel twists and turns in Sam's arms, screaming bloody murder against the openly homophobic Karofsky, who is busy trying to fight off Puck. Schue and Beiste try to break up the all-around brawl, and Mike shakes his head in disgust as he sees Finn standing at the risers, yelling (because of course Hudson wouldn't jump in the middle of the fight like Puck, Rachel, Santana and Lauren did), and punches Taylor's nose when the defensive player calls Brittany a stupid slut. (Taylor falls down to the floor with a bloody broken nose and ends up with broken fingers too – courtesy of Artie and his wheels of steel).

Somehow Rachel escapes from Sam's quite strong hold on her and charges (Puck slams his fist into Evans' back growling at him to stop copping a Rachel feel. Evans groans in pain, lets Rachel go and voila). She literally rams into Karofsky and hits him with her tiny wrists, somehow slamming a punch into his gut with so much force that the much larger footballer grunts and falls down to his knees (how does this happen?). Rachel lifts her leg gracefully and her frail knee makes contact with Karofsky's nose.

Karofsky falls down to the floor. The fight stops around them, everyone shocked at this. "And _that _is for Kurt, you… you… you Neanderthal!" Rachel cries triumphantly before lifting her nose in the air and storming out in true Rachel 'The Diva' Berry fashion. The momentary calm is enough for Schue and Beiste to take charge of the situation, and Coach manages to scream the fear of God into Mike's and Puck's teammates, ordering everyone to hit the track for laps.

Puck, having been considered the fight starter, grumblingly obeys. Mike manages to somehow sneak out the choir room, wanting to go after Rachel. He's torn between going to the bleachers and the auditorium, deciding to go to the latter since it's the first days of February and it's still quite cold.

Bingo! There she is, sitting in the semi darkness, a single spotlight on, bathing the stage with light. Her legs are stretched all the way to the seat in front of her, and the yellow light gives her olive skin a soft glow. Mike watches her for a minute before slipping in the row she's sitting, taking a seat next to her. "You know, that was quite the badass thing you did back there", he offers, chuckling at her soft, girlish giggle.

"Why, thank you, Michael", she replies politely, and he laughs, because only Rachel Berry would thank someone for saying she did fine when she kneed a guy three times her size in the nose. "My knee hurts, though", she adds, and he casts her a sideways glance to see her pouting, rubbing her right knee absently.

"Karofsky's face is hard like shit", he nods. "One would think that after being punched so many times it would be softer, but no".

She chuckles. "Language, Michael", she scolds softly. There's a moment of silence, and then she adds quietly, "I miss Kurt".

He doesn't reply, because what can he say to that? He doesn't understand how she can miss someone who treated her as badly as Kurt did when he was in McKinley, but the smaller boy was quite an important part of their band of misfits, so yeah, now that he's gone off to Dalton there's something missing.

"He's happier there", he says lamely. "Safer", Mike adds after a moment, with more certainty, because that is the absolute truth. In Dalton, away from Karofsky's dangerous bullying, Kurt's safer. They stay quiet after this, the silence being broken by the muffled sound of the ringing bell signaling the new period, and her phone chirping loudly.

"I have to take this", she says after she checks the caller ID, an apologetic look on her face.

He smiles and nods. "That's fine, I have to go anyway. Chem now". He rises from his seat and hovers there for a moment. "Hey, Rachel… Maybe you, Puck and me could hang out later? We really need to work on your trash talk".

A bright smile curves her lips and she nods. "Sure, Michael. You, Noah and I, that'd be wonderful". Her phone chirps again (is that Lionel Richie's _Hello_?) and she looks at the gadget, smiling fondly. "Impatient as always, I see", she says, looking up at him. "I really need to take this".

"Cool. Later, B", he says, and she smiles and nods, connecting the call.

"Hey, Jess, how's LA treating you?"

(He recognizes the nickname. St. James. Of course. He can keep a secret, though).


End file.
